Base of Operations:
Mobile in the solar system, notably in the Star
Hawk

First Appearance:
Star Team (1977)

History:

(Star
Team
(fb) - BTS) - In the year 3000, Earth's solar system faced an invasion
from the Black Nebula led by the Knight of Darkness and his Shadow
Warriors, who had already gained a foothold in the outer
planets.
The Star Team, comprising Zem-21, Zeroid Blue and Zeroid Red, were
tasked with scouting the planets to identify threats to Earth.

(Star Team) - While patrolling for
active enemy ships, the Star Team came across a seemingly wrecked
enemy spacecraft. Despite the Zeroids' disapproval, Zem-21 was
suspicious and
ordered that the Star Hawk land and investigate. Zeroid Blue found
Shadow Warriors of the Knight of Darkness and was pursued by them.
Zeroid Blue was ordered by Zem-21 to flee back to the Star
Hawk, with the two Zeroids then blasting away chased by several Shadow
Warriors mounted on rocket sleds. Zem-21 went into the wreckage but was
confronted by the Knight of Darkness, who quickly used his Uni-Blaster
to paralyze the inquisitive android. Zem-21 was marched deeper inside
and shown the matter-transmitter being used to instantly transport
armed Shadow Warriors from the outer planets in a move to invade Earth.
The Knight of Darkness revealed his plans of conquest to his opponent
before showing Zem-21 that his Shadow Warriors caused the Star Hawk to
apparently crash. Angered, Zem-21 shoved the dark Knight into the
control panel, disabling the matter-transmitted before running away.
The Knight of Darkness and his Shadow Warriors soon cornered
Zem-21, but the android was saved with the sudden appearance of the two
Zeroids, which had only staged an explosive crash, with Zeroid Red
shooting away at the enemy troops as Zeroid Blue electronically crossed
circuits to cause an overload. Zem-21 warned the Knight of Darkness of
the impending explosion, and he and his troops transported away as the
Star Team escaped and blasted off in their saucer-craft just as the
secret base exploded. The Star Team resolved to remain vigilant to
counter any future efforts by the knight of Darkness.

Comments:
Created by Ideal Toy Corporation. Comic created by Archie Goodwin
(writer), David Cockrum (pencils) and Mike Esposito (inks).

This Star Team comic was a
16-page giveaway produced by Ideal Toys and Marvel Comics.

The Star
Team
was an extension of
the original Zeroids line of toys - nifty stuff! However, it's not hard
to see the (heavy) influence of Star Wars with Darth Vader (Knight of
Darkness), C3-PO (Zem-21), Zeroids (R2-D2), and the name of their
spaceship, Star Hawk (Millennium Falcon).

The Knight of Darkness led the
Shadow Warriors from the Black Nebula in their attempts to invade
Earth. He was armed with a Uni-Blaster that could disintegrate or
paralyze targets. He and his troops sometimes rode rocket
sleds. The Knight of Darkness appeared to be an armored humanoid and
not an android. The Knight of Darkness was arrogant and liked to gloat,
also (bizarrely) revealing secret invasion plans to captives.
His effort to move his troops closer to planet Earth by stealth was
stopped by Zem-21 and the Star Team.

Star Hawk was the name of the
small but nimble
spaceship that the band of three robots used for patrols. It did
not appear to have any weapons or defense capabilities, although a
thermite grenade was used (probably by Zeroid Red) to simulate a crash.